


Man's Best Friend

by harvestleaves



Series: Out of Breath [5]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Asthma, Buttercup and TK are bros, Buttercup is protective over TK, Buttercup is the best dog, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-23 06:40:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23007328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harvestleaves/pseuds/harvestleaves
Summary: TK wakes up and doesn't realize his asthma is starting to act up, Buttercup does, and won't give up annoying him until TK takes his inhaler.
Relationships: TK Strand & Buttercup, TK Strand & Owen Strand
Series: Out of Breath [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1618924
Comments: 30
Kudos: 434





	Man's Best Friend

TK let out a sigh as he shuffled to the kitchen a little after midnight to make some tea. He felt a bit of pressure on his chest, but it wasn’t the usual tightness that came with his attacks, so he wasn’t too concerned as he started to boil some water.

He’d left Buttercup curled up at the foot of his bed because he didn’t want to disturb the dog, knowing he needed much more sleep than TK himself did.

As he poured the water into a mug with a peppermint tea bag, he heard the faint sound of claws clicking against the wooden flooring and turned to see Buttercup making a beeline towards him.

“Hey buddy, whatcha doing awake? I thought you were sleepy,” TK cooed as he set the kettle down on the stove before he crouched down to scratch the dog behind the ears.

Buttercup’s tongue flopped out happily at the pets before he let out a bark and nudged at TK’s chest.

“Woah, quiet down, bud, or you’ll wake everyone up.”

This apparently wasn’t the response Buttercup was looking for as a lower grumble came from the dog and a more insistent nudge was pressed against TK’s chest, causing TK to wince a little.

“What’s gotten into you?” TK frowned, though as he spoke once more, he heard the distinct wheeze trailing his words, and his face softened.

“You could hear me wheezing? Is that it, buddy? I bet you were worried, huh?”

Buttercup gave a small nod as if he understood TK’s words before he barked once more, pressing his nose against TK’s shirt with a whine.

“Buttercup, hey, I’m fine. You don’t need to be so loud,” TK blushed, a more prolonged wheeze trailing his words.

Buttercup’s eyes narrowed at the sound before he let out a louder bark as if he was trying to alert someone to TK’s wheezing. Though now that TK knew the dog’s intentions, he had no doubt that that was what he was trying to do.

TK rolled his eyes at Buttercup’s insistence before the dog pulled back from him and nudged him towards the stairs.

Stifling a few coughs, TK thought about following Buttercup before his curiosity got the better of him, wondering what the dog would do if he didn’t follow. TK instead chose to grab his mug of tea and moved to sit on the couch, ignoring the growing tightness in his chest as he raised an eyebrow challengingly at Buttercup.

Settling back to sip at his drink, TK tried to stifle a few coughs that were starting to build in his chest, not noticing Buttercup march off up the stairs to the bunks.

Once he started to let the coughs slip out, however, TK couldn’t help but feel a bit of panic rise as he was left a little breathless before he looked around for Buttercup. His heart pounded more as another round of coughs left him wheezing, and he leaned forward, settling his arms on his knees to catch his breath.

Buttercup chose that moment to saunter back into the room, TK’s inhaler in his mouth as he nudged at TK’s arm to get him to look up.

Once he’d successfully gotten TK’s gaze, he dropped the inhaler into the human’s hand before shoving his way between TK’s knees, watching him with an alerted gaze as TK took a dose of the medicine.

TK then took a second puff of his inhaler before the vice in his chest finally started to release, relaxing back against the couch as Buttercup wormed his way up onto the cushions as well. TK raised an eyebrow as the massive dog curled up onto his lap before Buttercup settled his head against TK’s chest, listening intently to his owner's breathing to detect any sharp changes.

TK was so focused on petting Buttercup to calm himself down that he didn’t notice his dad appear in the doorway, the man had followed Buttercup downstairs when he heard the dog rummaging around TK’s bed for the inhaler.

“Hey, kiddo, you feeling okay?” Owen asked as he made his way to the couch to sit with TK, looping an arm around his son’s shoulders gently.

“H-hey, dad. Yeah, I’m fine. It just kinda came out of nowhere. You wanna know the weird thing, though? I think Buttercup was trying to tell me I was having an attack,” TK frowned in thought as he leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Buttercup’s head.

“He kept pushing against me and barking. I guess I didn’t put two and two together until I started wheezing.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me, dogs have better hearing than humans. So he could probably hear you wheezing before it was audible to you. Plus, he follows you around everywhere. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s got your breathing patterns memorized,” Owen said with a slightly amused smile.

“Maybe we should get him a little pouch for his collar. Put your inhaler in it,” Owen teased with a grin before pressing a kiss to TK’s temple.

“I hate you. So much,” TK groaned, though his words had no malice behind them as Buttercup leaned up to lick at his face lovingly.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any prompts, you can submit them to my [tumblr](https://harvestleaves.tumblr.com).


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